Hacking the Hacker
by Jemerald Goldie
Summary: A failed mission leaves Robin's mind in an utter mess, and unable to help out his team, he is forced to temporarily resign duty. However the mysteries only get deeper when the ones responsible for Robin's mind-virus appear to be his own trusted friends.
1. Chapter 1: New Alliance

**A/N: This would be my very first Young Justice fanfiction. It was kind of a plot that just jumped in my head randomly, but I took the chance and just started to write it all out. There will not be a said schedule for regular updating, but I will try not to make you guys wait too long for the next few chapters. If you didn't know, this is just the introduction, so that is why it's so short. But hey, every story has a beginning** **. Anyway enjoy, and please review me your thoughts!**

 **Chapter 1: New Alliance**

The moon rose proudly over the sun as the light gradually gave way to darkness. Stars winked mockingly down at the beings of earth as if teasing their limit in staying put upon the ground floor. Several clouds crawled lazily over the indigo sky, transmuting the dark blue into a transparent gray. A warehouse at the edge of town near a river stood shackled, old, and worn, its wood rusted to brown and gray with the sidings tipping out of place. There was no door, rather just an unmissable hole in the side of the house with shadows hiding inside. Mysterious figures concealed themselves from the dim light of the moon under a window, making it impossible to tell how many people were in the warehouse. The only one identifiable was one who smiled with pleased cruelty, an uncertain amount of others watching emotionlessly.

"Please, please, tell me again… whom do you serve?" asked the smiling man, waiting for a response with intent enthusiasm.

"You and you alone, boss." replied a female voice, her silhouette revealing she was equipped with a bow and quiver of arrows.

Giddy laughter erupted from the man, but he quickly recovered and cleared his throat, but his smile remained. "I like the sound of that… tell me, what do I want you to do for me?"

A husky male voice responded, his shadow revealing nothing but a bulky young body. "Destroy the Justice League…" he growled, fingers itching to get started.

"Well, there's that too." admitted the boss, unimpressed. "I mean what I told you earlier today- - _what_ were your instructions?"

A frisky boy's voice answered this time. "Kick the League's little brats in the cans, where it counts!" he declared with unhidden ardor. His bright yellow uniform was very apparent despite the dark room.

"Perfect," purred the boss, his grin returning. "Why, might I ask, would I want you to do this?"

"Because once the younger ones are out of the way, we can focus on the real objective." Another deep voice had spoken, but this time it was filled with a sense of wisdom and respect. The boss could see he wielded a weapon upon his back, making his grin further stretch.

"Good answer," he congratulated with vigor. "And who is your first priority?"

"Robin…" spat a new female voice, but it was a voice that did not sound like it should, or could, ever be bitter. It was evident from light wind that a blue cape flowed from her back.

The boss could not contain his horribly happy laughter. This was just too good; he could not deny the genius of his plan. "Exactly correct my dearie." His jolly demeanor was short lived and he instantly fell into a threatening hiss. "Tear him apart. Make him spread the affect. _Weaken_ his poor, compassionate mentor." He spat "mentor" in a tone of hatred, vaguely imagining the downfall of his enemy for a brief moment. Ah, for Batman to be rid of…

"Do not fail me."

His new alliance obeyed without question and departed from the warehouse. The boss's smile returned; it was a terrifying smirk that no one would ever want to fall under. He added before they were completely gone, "Oh, and tell my little flying nephew I said hello."


	2. Chapter 2: Stars

**Chapter 2: Stars**

It was nighttime, just a bit past ten, when six adolescents none older than sixteen lied out on top of a roof at the foot of Mount Justice, comfortably relaxed and watching the stars dwelling in informal chit-chat with one another. Since the Justice League _insisted_ that they induce in some bonding time with each other to get to know one another better, M'gann got the brilliant idea to go up on the roof of the back shed and stargaze. It sounded like too much to several at them at first, but once they make themselves cozy they realized it really wasn't so bad at all. In fact, it was almost fun.

Wally was currently in the middle of one of his blonde jokes; ever since he discovered Artemis tended to have a short temper, he embraced his joking nature and made sure to spill all of the blonde jokes he knew just to get on her nerves. "One day a blonde walked into a bar. Then a table. Then a chair."

Artemis crossed her arms in annoyance when Wally broke out into a few laughs. Superboy exchanged a confused glance with M'gann, neither one understanding the punchline.

"That one wasn't even funny," Artemis muttered, glaring at the boy icily. "You've said it a million times already."

"Yeah, well it's my best joke," Wally admitted, grinning cheekily at the archer. "And personal favorite."

"I don't get it," M'gann said after a moment of silence. "Why are the unfortunate events on another person funny?" her tone was entirely innocent without a hint of disapproval or scorn.

Wally, taken off guard, tried to come up with a justifiable response. "Well, you see, it's just that… you know, it's just…"

"That all of those 'unfortunate events' are very relatable to most of us, so we can all laugh about it together." Kaldur said unexpectedly.

"Uh… yeah, what he said," Wally agreed, smiling like a doofus at M'gann.

"So," Superboy trailed, his expression twisted in thought. "Instead of laughing at the person, you laugh _with_ the person?"

"Exactly," Wally concluded proudly. "Therefore you can't touch me." He couldn't resist a sly grin to Artemis, it only growing when she responded with a glare.

"Alright, I've got one," said Artemis, sneering at Wally. "Why can't Wally call 911?"

When she didn't get a response, Artemis finished with, "Because he can't find the eleven."

The team went into a fit of laughter; even Kaldur cracked a smile. Artemis glared at Wally with a cruel smile, while the boy just frowned, pretending to be unimpressed.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Wally mumbled, unamused. He turned to Robin, who was lying to his left; he was the only one who didn't respond to the jokes, let alone anything this whole evening. Nudging his best friend slightly Wally said, "At least _someone_ stayed loyal," he smiled, trying to get a reply, but Robin hardly acknowledged him. After studying the uncharacteristic thirteen year old for a few moments, Wally turned back to Artemis, continuing on with a joke war while Superboy, M'gann, and Kaldur watched on in amusement.

Robin, however, was somewhere else- - not physically, but he wasn't paying attention. Rather he focused on something in the distance, something that looked like a person carrying a torch through the woods. Sitting up, Robin removed his sunglasses and squinted while leaning forward on the roof, trying to get a better picture of what it was. Slowly his eyes widened again as the figures got closer and closer, now being able to identify every one of them.

Supervillains. _Tons_ of them, all heading in their way now. The Joker was in the lead, many other familiar but spine-chilling faces swarming at either of his sides, all cackling in hideous laughter that made Robin's hair stand on end. The Joker made direct eye contact with the boy, his impossibly curled up grin nearly freezing Robin to the bone. In a terrifying hiss the villain breathed, "We're coming for you, little birdy… and your precious kiddy friends, too."

Horrified of this sudden arrival, Robin backed up on the roof to the top again, where the rest of the team were engaged in Artemis and Wally's witticism battle. He turned to face them and got to his feet, his expression urgent and tone commanding.

"We're under attack! Suit up with everything you need, now! Put the Mountain on lockdown- - hurry!"

Robin ran off the side of the roof to get to the ground but was pulled back by Wally, who along with the rest of the team sported bewildered expressions. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Rob, what the heck are you talking about?"

Robin ripped his arm out of Wally's grasp. "Don't you _see it?_ Look, they'll be here any min- -" he broke off. In the woods, where he had just seen an army of supervillains, there was nothing. No torches, no evil laughter, not one person in sight… just the normal view of the trees.

"What?" Robin murmured, flabbergasted.

"Dude…" Wally began awkwardly, staring at the Boy Wonder with unhidden concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

When Robin processed the fact that the villains were never there and all of his friends were staring at him, his face flushed and he looked away. "Yeah… yeah, I'm fine," he said after a moment. Truth be told he was extremely relieved; it was only his imagination or something like that. But it looked so real… he even _heard_ it happen. How could he have witnessed something so vivid like that only to decide it was just his imagination?

Wally did not look satisfied. "You just went all bloody-murder over something that didn't exist. Did you eat something weird at lunch?"

Robin paused as the rest of the team came forward, all eyeing him expectantly. Frankly Robin did not know what was wrong with him; his only reasonable conclusion was a lack of sleep, since he had been staying up late trying to cram in time for team missions as well as school homework. It was difficult at times, but he never went as bad as hallucinating until now. Finally deciding on what to say Robin stated, "I don't know. Guess my mind's playing tricks on me."

"Get some rest," Kaldur advised, putting a hand on the younger's shoulder with care. "I have noticed you have been a bit off lately. Some sleep should help you."

Robin nodded, grateful that he had a chance to leave. The young heroes were staying overnight at the Mountain because the Leaguers were out on some sort of covert mission of their own and wouldn't be back for a while. Robin had at first felt bitter that Batman would not allow him to tag along, but now he was happy he didn't, because his exhaustion was finally catching up to him- - and that cruel mind trick didn't help. Inside the cave Robin went down the corridors to the bedrooms, walking in his without bother of changing clothes or brushing his teeth. He set his sunglasses on the nightstand and sat down on the bed, staring at nothing in particular in the dimly lit room. "Just don't think about it," he decided, referring to the crazy hallucination he endured. He allowed himself to fall backwards on the bed and shut his eyes, ultimately succumbing to sleep.

 **A/N: Reviews are appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 3: File Error

**A/N: Yes, this took forever to post, but I had so many different versions written on how to put it all down- - I even have an official series of deleted scenes now. If you guys want I can post them, but only until I finish this story. ;)**

 **And yes, school was holding me back, but now that it's summer, HALLELUJAH!**

 **Chapter 3: File Error**

In the catwalks over a warehouse prowled Robin, who was keeping a wary eye on the action occurring below as he silently crept across the mesh, heading for a pole that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. He needed an easy way to get down as soon as his team engaged the enemy. He eyed the gambling thugs muttering amongst themselves, unable to catch what they were saying but knowing enough information from the files that they were probably booking their next wager. The only thing weird was they were messing around with what looked like a rock. The cops had been after these guys for a while now, but they always seemed to slip away to an unknown hideout, and the Young Justice team managed to find out where it was thanks to the hacking skills of a certain team member. It was a bit disconcerting for the thirteen-year old at first, since Robin was a bit unsure if it was the correct files in which he had hacked into, but he shook the feeling when he received the coordinates of a spooky old warehouse. What gambler wouldn't roost there?

The rest of the team was outside at the moment, trying to find their own way in for a surprise attack- - Robin was supposed to scout on the inside while they searched for a good entrance. It was quite convenient that he was hardly able to fit in the tight squeeze of the vents on the way in, and he also happened to be the smallest one of the teenagers, so that was his mission.

 _"_ _Robin, what do you see in there?"_ Kaldur asked through the telepathic link that M'gann set for the team.

 _"_ _Not much; the gamblers are down here, but they're mumbling to each other- - I can't hear what they're saying."_

 _"_ _I can hear them,"_ assured Superboy. It wasn't that surprising; after all, he did have super-hearing. _"I don't know what they are talking about, but one of them just said something weird; "NaCl" or something like that."_

Kid Flash, being the science geek that he was decided to speak up. _"NaCl? That's the chemical abbreviation for sodium chloride. What would a bunch of gamblers be doing with salt?"_

The team remained quiet for a few seconds, leaving Robin in his own thoughts. He stopped mid-step of his pacing over the catwalk, his eyes resting on the rock that the people below were handling. _"That must mean that rock-looking thing is halite."_

 _"_ _That's not all,"_ Superboy continued, _"They're talking about their next meeting with someone named 'Roster…' something like they need to get ready to ship a bunch of halite to him."_

Robin took a moment to smirk satisfyingly in his accurate deduction. However it was short lived as he thought about what this could mean. Shipping halite? These people were trying to ship _salt?_ And Roster… the mission they were given never mentioned such a name. They were supposed to be looking for a man named Butch Reynolds, not 'Roster.' Cold dread began to settle in the pit of Robin's gut; had he led his team to the wrong people?

 _"_ _I thought we were dealing with actual thugs here?"_ said Kid Flash in a rather reproachful tone, and Robin knew that if he met his gaze the older would be glaring. Shaking his head, Robin kneeled down and opened his glove's computer, eyes narrowed as he tried to chase away the fog that choked up his mind. Forgetting that everyone would hear him Robin thought, _"Don't tell me I hacked through the wrong files..."_

 _"_ _Oh, splendid; looks like 'Boy Blunder' forgot his team's mission and instead led us to a table salt factory. If you haven't noticed, Robin, we didn't bring along any fish and chips."_ Artemis said sarcastically, obviously irritated that they were misled this whole time. She added after a second, _"No offense, Kaldur."_

 _"_ _Maybe the bad guys wanted salt for fish and chips?"_ M'gann suggested kindly, but very unhelpfully.

Kid Flash butted back into the conversation. _"Who cares? All we know now is that they aren't the real bad guys, and we've ran all the way here for nothing. Way to go, Rob."_

Robin's eyes narrowed further, ignoring the negative feedback he got from the team. Instead he focused on what in the world went wrong in his hacking; he hardly ever made a mistake as significant as this. Not saying it could never happen, but he was shocked and rather frustrated with himself because of it. And now, thanks to him, the people they have been tracking could be long gone by now and, bonus, his team was mad at him. He stood up straight and tall as he silently listened to his team rant, wrapping his cape around his body similar to what Batman often did.

 _"_ _Forget his mistake; let's go after the real criminals now!"_ Superboy exclaimed, his tone determined and impatient.

 _"_ _Oh, what's the point?"_ Artemis asked in a demanding tone. _"They're probably long gone by now, especially since they somehow must have figured out we were tracking them and gave us the wrong file to hack into on purpose."_

Robin finally decided to speak. _"No… they didn't give me the file. I knew I should have given it a thorough scan- -"_

 _"_ _And Boy Blunder strikes again!"_ interrupted Artemis, pretty much 'yelling' in everyone's minds. The rest of the team from then on tumbled into a fit of arguing and pointed accusations at one another, their conversations going in circles. Within not much time, Kaldur had had it.

In a booming and assertive tone Kaldur declared, _"Enough!"_ He had said it so loud that the team was sure they could hear it echo off their brains for a few extra seconds.

 _"_ _Shifting the blame on others will not put the enemy behind bars. We need a team that works together one hundred percent of the time all of the time, and you all have proved to be incapable of reaching that goal. As leader of this team, I command you to return to the bioship so we can regroup at the cave."_

No one dared to speak after that. Silently Superboy, M'gann, Artemis and Kid Flash obeyed, sharing a few awkward glances at each other until they were safely shut away in the bioship.

Inside the warehouse Robin numbly made his way down the catwalk, tuning out the background noises from below. His thoughts crowded around the files he collected; if it wasn't from the 'bad guys' they were chasing down, what in the world made him think it was?

The chance to ponder on the subject more was lost when a thunderous migraine attacked his mind, making the vigilante stagger. Robin put his hands on either side of his forehead with a low groan of pain. It was so sudden and random that he lost all recollection of where he was and what he was doing.

 _"_ _Robin? Robin, is everything okay?"_ That was M'gann's voice. The telepathic link must have still remained in the whole team.

Robin wasn't going to lie; he was definitely not alright. But he couldn't find a response because his mind was so choked up in fog- - not to mention overwhelmed with a raging migraine.

Now Kaldur was talking, urgently and aggressively. _"Robin, report!"_

Unable to suppress another moan, Robin gritted his teeth before weakly replying. _"I, can't…"_ he broke off, dropping to his hands and knees, his energy slowly leaving him. He breathed deeply but unsteadily and didn't bother explaining. _"…help."_

Then, there on the catwalk of the salt miner's warehouse, Robin was rendered unconscious.

0o0o0o0

Back inside Mount Justice, Artemis, Kid Flash, M'gann and Superboy silently walked into the center of the room, awkwardly pausing and unsure of what to do next. Desperately willing to break the ice, Kid Flash dared an unsure smile and said, "Hey, who's up for a late-night movie?"

The other three exchanged glances and smiled, nodding in agreement. Tremendously relieved, Kid Flash breathed, "Alright, awesome! But first, let me get dressed." He raced off quick as a flash. The rest of the teenagers headed to the living room, talking about whatever came to mind now that the tension was easing.

Robin entered the mountain, trying to ignore the pounding in his head. He felt Kaldur's stare burn into the back of his cape, and he knew the leader wanted answers. After he passed out Kaldur had ran in to get him, but according to their fearless leader he was delayed by the supposed salt miners; it was still a mystery to Robin on what he meant by that. He was awake by the time they landed the bioship, so since everyone knew he would be okay, they allowed themselves to continue on as normal- - it was just a little awkward since Kaldur seemed really frustrated at something, or specifically someone. Either way it wasn't like the Boy Wonder enjoyed his friends throwing him a pity party.

"Robin," began Kaldur; the thirteen-year-old, his back facing the Atlantean, tilted his head to the side questioningly, though he wasn't looking forward to the discussion that he sensed was coming.

"You were unfocused out there, not unlike last night. Is there something that is bothering you?"

"Yes," growled Robin, suddenly feeling annoyed. He decided to tell Kaldur everything he'd been experiencing thus far; there was no point in hiding it, and he wasn't one up for denying the truth. He turned right around and looked Kaldur in the eyes. With complete sincerity he murmured so no one else would hear, "But I don't know what it is." Kaldur didn't answer, a hint Robin took as to continue. He did so, tentatively and a bit somberly. "It comes and goes… I just, it starts with a headache, then I can't think or see anything, and finally I just… crash, I guess. Like all the energy is being sucked out of my body."

For a few seconds Kaldur was silent. Then he shifted to a more comfortable stance, crossing his arms. "You had a hallucination the other night... Do you suppose these occurrences are connected?"

Frankly Robin never thought of that. He hesitated before nodding. "That would make sense," he agreed. He tried brainstorming for any common illnesses that gave vivid illusions and fatigue but resulted with another headache. "It- - it hurts to think," he stammered while stumbling backwards, holding his hands to his head.

He felt Kaldur put a gentle arm on his shoulder. "Easy," he murmured, "You need rest… a lot of it."

With a half-hearted chuckle Robin growled, "Yeah. Who knows when we'll have more salt-thugs to wrestle to the ground?" he made his clumsy way out of the room only for Kaldur to stop him- - again.

"You won't be going out next time, or ever; not until you're back to normal."

"What? Of course I am!" Robin snapped, spinning round to face him. "I can't just stand back while my teammates- -"

"Robin, you made two mistakes on one mission, two _big_ mistakes that you would not have made in your revitalized state. You will resign from all team missions- -"

Now Robin was the one interrupting. "What, so you're gonna suspend me from the team now?"

Not caring to correct his wording Kaldur snarled, " _Yes_. Temporarily, that is. And you will resign… that's an _order_." His firm voice was deepened to a low growl, not unlike distant thunder. It was clear that the topic was not up for argument, and Robin knew it would be better to obey, despite disagreeing with the older teenager. And deep down, he really was relieved to get a break. That didn't mean he had to be happy with the final decision, though.

The silent moments of staring challengingly into each other's eyes became broken when Robin irritably went off to exit the room, conflicted between two sharp points. One; obey Kaldur and weaken the team number. Two; disregard Kaldur's orders and risk his health. Yes, the logical and wise choice was definitely the first one, and Robin was fully aware of that. The team could take care of themselves without him anyway.

That aside, the only thing left for Robin to question was why Kaldur never directly mentioned the error he made with hacking their enemy's files. Wouldn't he interrogate him about that, or at least try to reprimand him? Perhaps he was waiting to tell Batman first so Robin wouldn't be able to sway any doubts in doing so. With a sigh the young hero walked through the halls past the living room, pretending not to hear the call of his friend Wally asking if he was going to join them with the movie or not.

 **A/N: Please drop a review- - I love reading your guys' feedback.**


	4. Chapter 4: Player Six

**Chapter 4: Player Six**

The leaguers were still gone two days later. Robin had no idea where they could be by now and when they would ever come back, but he was pretty thankful for the peace and quiet. Mount Justice was anything but lively considering the fact that Kaldur and the other four have been going out every morning to try and track down Butch Reynolds as their previous mission had stated, the one that Robin completely screwed up. So during his temporary suspension the thirteen year old decided to do whatever he could that wasn't past his current 'mind-limits' just to savor the fact he had the entire mountain to himself. At the moment he was in the training room, debating on whether or not he should try performing wall-climbing and trapeze-swinging and cool pose landings. He vaguely remembered yesterday when he had attempted to simply swing from one trapeze to the other- - his vision had hit blurriness at the worst possible time and he had fallen back-first on the safety mat below. Even though his fall was cushioned, it still wasn't pleasant to be out winded for a few seconds. Ultimately he gave up on training and slowly left the room behind him.

He sighed, running his hands through his dark raven hair. "There must be _something_ I can do." He insisted to himself as he scanned every room he went by. He ended up surpassing the entire mountain, reaching the exit that led to the forest. Robin eyed the environment with care, his sights eventually landing on the back shed he and the rest of the team had stargazed on some nights ago. He narrowed his eyes; up there was when he had his first hallucination. The image of hundreds of the world's worst supervillains marching their way to the team of six still hung fresh in Robin's mind.

He shook his head. What was even in the back shed? Why would a mountain dwelling for super heroes even _need_ a back shed? Curiosity flowed question after question into Robin's head to the point where he just had to take a look inside.

Robin went through the undergrowth towards the awaiting storage house, wasting no time to get to the front door. He tried pulling the handle but it was being held back by something, a lock, no doubt. That wasn't a problem for Boy Wonder. He pulled out his utility belt (never leave home without it) and used a lock picker against the padlock, within seconds pushing the way inside. He hummed in dismay when there was another door, and it was much more heavy duty than the first. Whatever was inside there someone didn't want him finding it out. Now even more determined to discover what was being hidden Robin enabled his utility belt once more and got to work.

The first few locks were easy, but the third one Robin needed a bit more time on. He started feeling frustrated when he ended up bending his lock picker, and out of that sensation he tossed the little tool to the side like garbage. He dragged out another one, one that was more durable than the last, and felt satisfaction as he heard the familiar _click_ of the unlocking point. The last few were breezes and finally, finally he was able to open the doors. He crossed his fingers as he pushed through to the other side, hoping there wasn't another door or something that wasn't even worth the effort.

In the center of the dark room was an old brittle chair.

Robin stared at the furnishing in disbelief. "That's _it?_ " he exclaimed, hardly believing what he saw. "All that work for some crummy shambling of splintered wood." His only feeling of happiness was that no one was around to witness this embarrassing scene. Robin stepped towards the small chair, noting the decomposing wood and the slight bits of mold along the legs even in the dim lighting. Robin scrunched up his nose at the horrible stench and tipped backwards. "Who would try protecting something like _this?_ "

Suddenly a small breeze started to wrap around Robin's body. He blinked, loosely wondering where the wind was coming from in the small shed. The doors behind him flapped open and shut, and in their moments of openness he saw clouds cover the daytime sky and darken the world below. His heart rate sped up as the floorboards creaked, though he was the only one in the room and was _not_ walking. He heard a familiar laugh, a familiar voice, one he knew all too well… but it definitely wasn't comforting.

"We're coming for you, little birdy… and your precious kiddy friends, too."

Wait a moment. Robin had heard that before. Where had he heard that before?

The boy stumbled and held his hands to his head, pain pounding his thoughts away. He failed to suppress a cry from the major discomfort but forced himself to look up, teeth gritted and brows lowered in hostility. His eyes were opened but he couldn't see anything straight, whether it was the wind or the distracting pain in his head or plainly failing vision that he had been suffering from lately, he didn't know. What he did know was that voice, the Joker, was not welcome at Mount Justice.

Weakly Robin found his footing and dug in his utility belt, tossing a batarang across the shed. It came back without breaking contact, and when all Joker did was laugh Robin angrily tossed a smoke bomb to conceal himself and threw out more batarangs on either end of the room. Again contact was not made and the laughter was not suppressed.

"Please, please, do it again- - it's just all so _amusing_ to watch." taunted Joker cruelly.

Robin saw shadows dancing on the ground around him and leapt, landing in a cat-like pose and performing a few leg sweeps and kick swings in empty air. Frustrated he stared left and right, the smoke bomb making his vision even worse. His head pounded from all the action and his limbs felt feeble from the very few moves he preceded.

"Tired of our little game already?" asked the villain with no hint of any extreme emotion. Robin tried searching for his face or any sign that he was there, but he still could barely see. He could barely think, or even move- - all he could do was listen.

"Very well. But even when I'm gone you won't be safe. As long as your kiddy friends are around you'll never be safe!"

Robin took that as a threat to his teammates. Adrenaline rushed in his veins at his protective urge to keep his friends out of harm's way and with a battle cry Robin rushed to the voice, landing a powerful sidekick on the source with all the newfound energy he could muster. He dropped to his feet, breathing hard, and blinked his eyes open.

Everything was gone. The wind, the Joker, the smoke… even the sky had cleared of clouds again and was back to the sunny morning Robin had seen earlier. All that remained was the brittle old chair at Robin's feet, broken down to a pile of kindling.

Robin felt a chill run up his spine. Another hallucination? It seemed too real to be imaginary. Then again, so did his last one. His head still knocked with a dull ache, and his body was sore from the moves which he hadn't tried doing in several days. He stared at the broken chair. Feeling rather spooked, Robin spun around and exited the shed, getting as far away from it as fast as he could.

His thoughts went back to Joker's words while he ran. _"As long as your kiddy friends are around you'll never be safe."_

 _Yeah right._ Robin mused defiantly. _They're probably the safest ones to be around._

This reminded him of his loneliness at the mountain, the mountain he had just reentered. The mountain that his teammates called home base. The mountain that was considered their own personal playgrounds whenever they were off duty. The one that Robin really did enjoy visiting… but the encounter outside made the empty Mount Justice all the more ominous. Robin knew that today he wouldn't be complaining when his friends returned from their mission.

 **A/N: I wasn't planning on this, but here it is. And no, it's nothing superstitious, I promise! _It's all just in Robin's head._ ;)**

 **Feel free to review!**


	5. Chapter 5: Disadvantages

**Chapter 5: Disadvantages**

"Okay, so _what_ are we doing here again?"

Aqualad hardly acknowledged Kid Flash's question. He stood silently, staring at what appeared to be just a giant heap of rock in the ground. It was dimly lit, but not because it was nighttime- - dark gray clouds covered the atmosphere above and threatened a storm. They came randomly and unexpectedly, though thankfully any rain was holding off… for now.

"Aqualad," Artemis interrupted the Atlantean's thoughts. "I think your team deserves to know what is going on."

Aqualad turned to face his four teammates. "We're here to get answers. In the duration our last mission, I saw something that seemed… out of place. That is, out of place for salt miners." He paused as if thinking of the best way to tell them the rest. "When I went back for Robin, the suspects ran at the first sight of my presence… however they left something behind." He opened his right fist to reveal a jagged white rock, one that appeared to have absolutely no significance to it whatsoever.

The teenagers stared at the rock intently before slowly moving their gazes back to Aqualad. "Halite, dude?" Kid Flash stated, his voice thick with a dumbfounded tone.

Aqualad's eyelids fell slightly and he held the halite up for them all to see closely. Peering in the team began to understand what the deal was all about; if they squinted just right they would be able to detect small markings in the side of them, markings that were not natural and formed some type of wording.

"Wow! For a fish you've got sharp eyes, Aqualad," Kid Flash joked and he sped to snatch the halite out of his leader's hand. "What's it say?"

"Give that back, you dingus," Artemis snapped and she quipped it out of his grasp, handing it back to a cross Aqualad. Said person dipped his head and dropped his tone to one of sincerity.

"What I made out of it did not make much sense, but after looking into Robin's hacked file records I discovered where we could find out more about it." He was about to face the heap of rock again when Superboy interrupted.

"Wait. Are you saying you led us back to the _salt miners?_ " he asked in disbelief.

Artemis immediately took his side. "Yeah, what are you thinking, Aqualad? Don't you remember that we're looking for a Butch Reynolds? Superboy himself said they worked for a Roster!"

M'gann levitated several inches off the ground, a look of concern featuring her expression. "Does this mean Robin didn't make a mistake after all?"

"No, it means Aqualad's lost his _mind_ ," Artemis corrected, scowling as she paced back and forth restlessly.

"Quiet," Aqualad commanded. Without saying a word he stepped towards the rock pile, unsheathing his water bearers and pointing them forward, his head dipped and eyes shut as he concentrated hard. His arms shaking from the strain, his bearers started to draw water out the sides of the rock, and a low rumbling somewhere deep below them all started to sound. The more water he drew in the more intense it became, and eventually the stones were starting to crack apart. Aqualad's entire body shook as he screamed to get down before the entire face of the rock wall burst open with water streaming from all sides, and as quick as Flash could run Aqualad made a shield of water circle around himself and his team to protect them from the merciless onslaught of falling stones. For what seemed like forever rocks and water poured on down and around them, finally settling down after an agony of suspense. Aqualad waited to make sure it was completely quiet before weakly dropping his water bearers and falling to his knees in exhaustion, the former water shield limply showering over him and his teammates. Aside from any protests about being drenched, M'gann, Kid Flash, Artemis and Superboy found themselves unharmed and quickly ran up to check on their drained leader, who was panting from how much effort he put into his work.

"This," Aqualad breathed, "is what we came here for."

Looking up, the team saw what they probably should have seen coming. The newly made hole in the rock pile exposed a tunnel that led underground to depths unknown, so far back that the darkness concealed even Superboy's vision to determine whether or not there was an end. A cold breeze seemed to wash over them all at that moment, contrasting well with the slow and ominous water drops falling rhythmically from the cave walls. When Aqualad had caught what he needed of breath he took no hesitation to walk inside. "Let's go," he commanded, and the remaining four followed more reluctantly and cautiously.

Once darkness engulfed them, Aqualad's water-bearers glowed in a soft teal color to give them some form of vision. The ominous atmosphere grew thicker the further the team went through the tunnel, cold wind swirling around their figures presenting chills. The silence between the teenagers made it worse for especially Kid Flash, whose heart rate was beating a gazillion times faster than normal. A drop of water from a stalactite above dropped on the speedster's nose, and his squeal of terror made everyone freeze in their steps and stare at him. Artemis slapped Kid Flash's arm and glared at him hard, making the boy grin sheepishly and apologetically. The team, realizing it was just Wally being Wally, continued on their path with a more positive feel to themselves; unfortunately this mood turned back into an edgy and foreboding one when the amusing moment was forgotten in the shadows. After further tense time had passed, the five supers finally managed to get some relief at the sight of light up ahead, and upon seeing it all but Aqualad started to move a little faster forward to reach it. Their leader, already knowing what to expect, hissed a warning almost too late as the other four came upon the end of the road, the tunnel disappearing before them and leaving nothing but a hole in the side of a much bigger rock face on all sides- - however even with the small light source that they discovered was a lit torch on the wall it was impossible to tell what else lied in front of them with the lack of lighting. Unsurprisingly Kid Flash nearly fell over the cliff, but Superboy merely grabbed the back of his suit and threw him back on the ground.

Artemis was the first one to speak since they entered the tunnels. "Aqualad…" she breathed through the cold air, trying in vain to make out what was ahead, above, and below the cliff face, "Where have you taken us?"

However Aqualad didn't respond directly. Instead he unsheathed his water-bearers and summoned all the water he could from the cave walls, and with a quick and easy thrust of his arms the water shot forward a few hundred feet into the cavern where it finally laid to rest on the opposite wall of the enormous space. The cool liquid filled up a divot in the ground which immediately started to glow like Aqualad's water-bearers often did, except considering how large the pool of water made itself as, this particular glow made a fantastic blue light that spread throughout the entire cavern, giving every team member a chance to see what was lying before them. The teenagers fell silent in awe; the sight of rock walls, slick with water and sharp in stone, being seen in all directions except down and stretching hundreds and hundreds of feet away to fill up an enormous pit untouched by sunlight was just incredible.

"I didn't know you could do that, Aqualad," M'gann whispered, glancing in fascination at the bluely lit pool in the distance.

Aqualad dipped his head, admiring the scenery with formal eyes. "I suppose we still have yet to learn each other," he murmured lowly before getting down to business. He faced his teammates. "I did not bring you all down here just to enjoy the fascinating view… this is not any normal cave in the world. These are the very mines where "Roster" and his crew have been working in after all this time."

Kid Flash interrupted with a confused expression on his face. "You know something we don't about these miners. You know they aren't just a bunch of salt-freaks… cor-rect?"

"I am not positive. But I do know now that Roster is in affiliation with Butch Reynolds," he explained in a low voice, pausing to expect more questions from the four.

"How?" M'gann asked innocently without any sign of scorn.

Aqualad's gaze lifted upwards, looking far above the glowing pool of water he had made before. "Those markings look exactly like the ones on the halite."

Everyone followed his eyes and fell stunned at the sight of huge indents into the opposite cave wall that spelled out strange markings, nearly identical to what they saw on the halite just as Aqualad said. Once several moments of tense silence passed Wally exclaimed, "How did we not see that?"

"So Robin was right all along," M'gann concluded slowly. "And we just pushed him away."

Aqualad shook his head in disagreement. "I do not believe Robin knew about this… he was quite accurately just as surprised as we were to have made a 'mistake.' The only thing we have uncovered now was it was not at all a mistake… it was something to keep us busy."

"Well, we gotta go find them, then!" Kid Flash declared.

M'gann looked solemn. "But where? We don't know where they could have gone…"

While the four young heroes conversed about their next move Superboy stiffened to stillness, tuning out their voices and straining his ears to listen. He heard something happening… something big was coming their way. After moments longer of concentrating the pieces suddenly flew together in the Kryptonean's mind- - the enemy intended for them to come here.

"They've tricked us!" Superboy howled a warning too late when people wearing air filtered masks swung into the tunnel from the cavern, guns pointed and spewing gas grenades thrown.

Shocked from the arrival the team made misconfigured attempts to fend for themselves; M'gann tried to confuse the minds of her opponents but was distracted when one of them blew a blow-torch her way. Gasping in fear and surprise, M'gann inhaled too much of the smoke bombs' fuse and felt herself drifting. Superboy ran to save her fall but was turned away by a dark masks' firing bullets, which bounced off of his impenetrable skin and flung back at the enemy who disengaged to dodge his own gunshots. Superboy summed up more adrenaline with a rage-filled growl and bowled the man over, ultimately throwing him off the side of the cliff. The man was lucky enough to have grabbed onto a ledge further down, but he now remained out of the way. Superboy attended his anger towards the rest of the dark masks but stiffened when an odd dart shot into his heel, injecting him with something unexplainable. With a low groan the clone fell, unresponsive.

Artemis and Kid Flash gritted their teeth, both shouting "No!" at the same moment. Together they charged, the archer flinging an arrow which exploded upon impact and the speedster making a tornado. Aqualad, although busy washing his opposers away sharply shouted at Kid Flash to stop, sensing with eyes and ears that any more strain against the rocks could make the gradually unstable tunnel collapse overtop all of them. Kid Flash paused to stare at Aqualad, a bad move on his part when the enemy took advantage of his uncommon hesitation to inject a dart in his body like they had Superboy and cross a sickeningly solid punch past his jaw. Dizzy, Kid Flash managed to avoid any other punches but slowly felt his body start to fatigue. The poison they dosed him, along with the gas intermingling amidst the oxygen, finally started to catch up to his fast metabolism, resulting with the boy in a limp state.

Aqualad realized they didn't have a chance to victory; he too was feeling the effects of the gas take its toll on him. The last thing he saw was Artemis fall to the ground beside the rest of his friend's motionless bodies, and the last thing he heard was the enemy's incoherent shouts of triumph.

 **A/N: Yes, I haven't died; I was just on extreme hiatus for what, 5 months? But I'm back now, so that makes inexplicably abandoning all of you for so long okay. :) Even though I can't say I deserve it, reviews would be great! They help keep me going. I won't try to leave you guys hanging for so long again, but I am not making any promises!**


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